Publications

A 3D-printed optical microscope for low-cost histological imaging

Christopher Jay, Craig Rebecca, McHugh Rebecca E, Roe Andrew J, Bauer Ralf, Patton Brian, McConnell Gail, Rooney Liam M

Journal of Microscopy (2025)

https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.13398

Obtaining super-resolved images at the mesoscale through super-resolution radial fluctuations

Brown Mollie, Foylan Shannan, Rooney Liam M, Gould Gwyn, McConnell Gail

Journal of Biomedical Optics Vol 29 (2024)

https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.29.12.126502

Optimisation of specimen handling & mitochondrial analysis in patient skeletal muscle biopsies

Wahid Maheen, MacKenzie Graeme, Rooney Liam, Combet Emilie, Gray Stuart, Murray James, Gould Gwyn, Cunningham Margaret Rose

Pharmacology 2024 - British Pharmacological Society (2024)

From freeze to function : optimised cryopreservation and mitochondrial analysis workflow for skeletal muscle biopsies

Wahid Maheen, Mackenzie Graeme, Rooney Liam M, Greig Justin C, McConnell Gail, Combet Emilie, Gray Stuart, Murray James T, Currie Susan, Gould Gwyn W, Cunningham Margaret R

BMC Methods Vol 1 (2024)

https://doi.org/10.1186/s44330-024-00017-0

Enhanced resolution using low-cost Solid Immersion Lenses (SILs) manufactured using a single-step fabrication method

Rooney Liam

The Scottish Microscopy Society's 50th Annual Symposium (2024)

The impact of methylparaben and chlorine on the architecture of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia biofilms

Pereira Ana Rita, Rooney Liam M, Gomes Inês B, Simões Manuel, McConnell Gail

Science of the Total Environment Vol 951 (2024)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175646

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Research Interests

Dr Rooney is a Postdoctoral Researcher based at the Strathclyde Institute for Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences. His research interests lie in the development and application of advanced optical imaging methods to the field of microbiology.

Dr Rooney is involved in several ongoing research projects. He is currently funded by the Leverhulme Trust to research new manufacturing and characterisation methods for optical imaging, to democratise access to high-performance microscopy and create open hardware imaging solutions. He is also conducting ongoing research to understand the role of biofilm transport channels which he first identified during his PhD, developing 3D microbial culture platforms, and developing new imaging techniques for the life sciences.

Aside from his research, Dr Rooney is heavily involved in various Learned Societies. He is the current Chair of the Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) Early Career Committee, a member of the RMS Life Sciences Committee, and the RMS Council. Dr Rooney is also a Microbiology Society Champion and a Forging Futures Ambassador for the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA). He was awarded the Junior Medal for Microbiology by the Microbiology Society for his PhD research investigating biofilm structure using novel imaging methods and, more recently, the 2023 SULSA Early Career Development Award which funds an ongoing collaboration with researchers at Columbia University, New York, USA.

Professional Activities

Open Access Optics: Low-cost 3D printed lenses for optical microscopy

Speaker

9/2024

Quantitative Imaging of Biofilm Microenvironments & New Potentials for Targeted Therapies

Speaker

8/2024

ELMI

Organiser

4/6/2024

A New Channel for Biofilm Treatment: Exploring the Potential of Biofilm Transport Channels for Drug Delivery

Speaker

4/2024

A New Channel for Biofilm Treatment: Exploring the Potential of Biofilm Transport Channels for Drug Delivery

Speaker

4/2024

Sensing Oxygen Concentrations in Biofilms: A route towards targeted biofilm therapies

Speaker

4/11/2023

More professional activities

Projects

Revolutionising Pharmacology Education - Designing a Low-Cost Human Body-on-a-Chip Laboratory for Multi-Level Learning

Cunningham, Margaret Rose (Principal Investigator) Rooney, Liam (Principal Investigator) Monachan, Nikki (CoPI) Coubrough, Katie (CoPI) Wahid, Maheen (CoPI) Tinto, Kirsty (CoPI) Glendinning, Nicola (Co-investigator) Keegan, Joe (Co-investigator) Panelli, Fiona (Co-investigator) Palin, Fiona (Co-investigator) Thompson, Crystal (Co-investigator) Essex, Jane (Co-investigator) Hendry, Pauline (Co-investigator)

This education research project is funded by British Pharmacological Society to establish links with Vale of Leven Academy & Lennox Primary (West Dunbartonshire) and Queen Margaret Academy Supported Learning Centre (Ayr) to support student-led STEM Learning on the topic of Pharmacology.

This project involves staff and students across all levels of learning from primary school, secondary school, undergraduate to postgraduate higher education.

The project will use a combination of approaches such as 3D printing technology to address biomedical questions related to 'Space Medicine'. Twenty-two students (S4-S6) from Vale of Leven Academy (VOLA) will support the space-themed STEM activity design as they will go to NASA (Houston) as part of school-organised education trip in June 2025.

01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2025

A single-step laser fabrication approach to create antimicrobial surfaces for high-value medical devices

Rooney, Liam (Principal Investigator) Liu, Qi (Principal Investigator)

In response to the growing prevalence of healthcare-associated infections and the increasing resistance to antibiotics, there is an urgent need for antimicrobial-coated medical devices. Silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are widely recognised for their potent antibacterial properties, making them a prime candidate for such applications. However, current physical and chemical synthesis methods for AgNP are costly, time-consuming and pollutive. We aimed to develop a new single-step fabrication approach to generate AgNP-coated antimicrobial microstructure surfaces, using hybridising subtractive laser ablation and additive chemical deposition processes. The microstructures generated by this technique were investigated to understand their role in potentiating the antimicrobial activity of functionalised surfaces. This project provided a cost-effective and sustainable process to enhance the safety and functionality of medical devices prone to biofouling, such as surgical tools and implants.

01-Jan-2024 - 30-Jan-2025

Fluorescent Drugs for Difficult Bugs: Quantitative Imagin of Fluorescent Antibiotics to Track Antibiotic Uptake and Resistance in Biofilms

Rooney, Liam (Principal Investigator) McConnell, Gail (Co-investigator)

10-Jan-2024 - 28-Jan-2025

High-precision chemical mapping in biofilm transport channels to inform better therapies

Rooney, Liam (Principal Investigator) Dietrich, Lars (Co-investigator)

Biofilms are microbial communities linked to over 80% of infections and exhibit remarkable antimicrobial tolerance. We have developed advanced microscopy methods to visualise multi-millimetre-scale biofilms with sub-cellular resolution, providing unique cross-scale 3D overviews. We identified networks of nutrient transport channels and aim to exploit them using targeted biofilm therapeutics. However, we must understand the channel chemical microenvironment to inform new treatments. We present a dual-pronged approach to quantify the oxygen concentration throughout biofilm channel networks using high-resolution oxygen profiling and fluorescent oxygen-nanosensor imaging. These insights will inform the design of a new class of antimicrobial therapeutics to tackle recalcitrant biofilm infections.

13-Jan-2023 - 13-Jan-2024

Surface characterisation of 3D printed lenses for microscopy

Rooney, Liam (Principal Investigator)

We developed a method to 3D print transparent lenses for use in optical instrumentation, with the aim of democratising access to bespoke optics for prototyping and use in low-resource settings. We required a method to accurately calculate the surface curvature, smoothness, and quality in order to determine if our 3D-printed lenses were a viable alternative to their expensive glass counterparts.

We developed, optimised, and applied a super-resolution optical interference method to image the surface of our printed lenses and quantify their curvature and surface quality. This method was implemented with a variety of printed optical elements to assure the quality of and reproducibility of 3D printed optics.

13-Jan-2022 - 01-Jan-2022

Optical methods to measure antibiotic production by Streptomycetes

Rooney, Liam (Principal Investigator) Schniete, Jana Katharina (Principal Investigator)

The genus of bacteria, Streptomyces, produces around 70% of clinically relevant antibiotics in use today. They evolved the ability to secrete these chemical weapons into their local environment to ward off competing microbes and to signal over extended distances. However, understanding and quantifying the secretion of antibiotics directly from the cells into their environment is challenging.
We developed a method based on combining routine confocal fluorescence imaging with standing wave fluorescence microscopy and interference reflection microscopy to measure the volume of extracellular matrix secreted by live streptomycetes in situ. Our method was able to accurately measure the 3D volume of matrix around individual hyphae thanks to a five-fold axial resolution improvement compared to confocal microscopy alone and has translational applications for the study of extracellular matrix and antibiotic production with minimal perturbation to the bacterial cells.

07-Jan-2018 - 10-Jan-2018

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